Biparental Inheritance and Instability of kDNA in Experimental Hybrids of <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>: A Proposal for a Mechanism.

ABSTRACT: The mitochondrial DNA of trypanosomatid parasites consists of thousands of catenated minicircles and dozens of maxicircles that form a complex network structure, the kinetoplast (kDNA). Although kDNA replication and segregation during mitotic division are well studied, its inheritance during genetic exchange events remains unclear. In Trypanosoma brucei, hybrids inherit minicircles biparentally but retain maxicircles from a single parent. Although biparental inheritance of minicircles has been described in natural Trypanosoma cruzi hybrids, this process has not been explored in laboratory-generated hybrids of this parasite. In the present study, we analyzed kDNA inheritance in T. cruzi experimental hybrids using a comprehensive minicircle hypervariable region (mHVR) da

SUBMITTER: Tomasini N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12562267 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature